Circuit arrangements for operating low pressure discharge lamps are known in diverse embodiments. Generally, they contain a rectifier circuit for rectifying an AC voltage supply and for charging a capacitor, which is often referred to as a smoothing capacitor. The DC voltage present across this capacitor serves for supplying an inverter which operates the low pressure discharge lamp. Similar configurations are also known for other types of lamps, for example in the form of electronic transformers for halogen lamps. The invention furthermore quite generally relates to circuit arrangements for operating capacitive loads, the term “capacitive” meaning the so-called smoothing capacitor at the input of the inverter. Capacitive loads are intended to be understood hereafter as, in particular, such lamps which are equipped with an electrical ballast having capacitive properties.